Placer Claim Mined Out?

[desertgolddigger]

I belong to a local club that owns a claim. This club has had this claim for many years, and acquired it after the old timers had mined it previously, and others after they commercial outfits closed up.
I walked quite a bit of the 160 acre claim, and noted that just about every wash had been worked. Most of the surface nuggets has also been detected by those with gold detectors. In other words, this place has been picked over and over and over.
But I m a stubborn type of person, and I figured, just watching how people ram their puffer and blower drywashers, that some gold was just being blown through them. maybe not much, but some small stuff that never got a chance to settle behind the riffles.
I know many of you would never go to the effort of digging for three to four hours through the tailings in these washes. Again, I'm a bit stubborn, and anyway, I just wanted to have some fun locally, instead of driving 300 miles roundtrip to something that gives a little more for less effort.
I've spent the last three weeks, digging a few times a week along about 30 yards of wash, and have recovered just about a gram of gold. That might not seem like much, but I have only dug up 5 grams, not counting this one gram in almost 20 years out here drywashing in the desert of southern California.
As you would know, things always seem to go wrong. My gas powered blower motor decided it was time for the repair shop, and haven't heard from the shop in two weeks. So I purchased a WORX WG521 corded electric leaf blower to use with my Royal Large drywasher. I'm using a portable generator to provide the power. And it actually is working better than with my old gas powered blower. I have to run the blower on the lowest speed, or I just blow everything through the riffles. Results are very good, as I am getting gold specks so small that I will have to use the Blue bowl in order to recover them.
I'm not only getting a little gold, I'm having some fun, and I am getting a good workout. I've lost 10 pounds since I started. So things are going well.
I'm still digging test holes around the old time hard rock mines in the hope I will find where the gold has drifted downhill below these mines. So far just a couple specks here and there. I figure I just have to move laterally one way or the other before I get something better Of course, I' don't really know if the old timers stripped the hillsides. Even if they have, they apparently aren't as thorough as I am. I hope that I may be lucky and find a larger piece of gold that the old timers, previous placer miners, and detectorists have missed.
Hope everyone is having as much fun as I have been having.

 

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[Reed Lukens]

Sounds great, Reed. My Wilfley didn't have longitudinal tilt. The guys at Denver Mining Supply, or whatever it was called, said that for really fine gold, the table should be tilted up on the cons end, but only 1/4" per 36" of table length.
Jim

Shimming it under the UHMW would work fine, but having the right water flow spreads everything out for easy classification as is. I've never used the slimes deck as of yet.

 

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[desertgolddigger]

Caley I'm not sure the casters are the way to go I had problems. My table was jumping around I added hold down springs it works better. I realigned my drive and changed the way I bolted the motor and drive also it needs some guides to keep the table from walking sideways. I found part of the problem was the drive rod was hitting the support table no wonder it was jumping lol. I have linear rails and support bearings on the way for backup Happy mining.

Yeah, after all those nice pictures posted, and my brain finally starting to understand how thing are put together, and how it all works, I went back to my linear rail system. It'll just be a pain to get it mounted, if I can't get any help. Probably will need four hands; two taking the weight, and the other two guiding the bearing blocks onto the rails.

I finally saw how the linear rails are fairly close to the single bar, and double bar setups.

Now I just need to start working on the table. I'm not going to use the tilted router sled like I did with my mini table. I'm just going to rout the grooves, and then, as suggested, carefully sand in the outfeed ends so the material can escape the groove trap. That means I'll end up shimming the outfeed end (is that right), about 1/4 inch.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I got out this morning to the club claim. I decided my landscaping could wait a day while I had some fun.

I went to the old timer vertical mine waste pile where I've been getting, to me, fairly good super fine gold from both the dirt, and the pea gravel and smaller sized gravel. Worked a couple hours sifting it, and picked through the larger rocks, viewing with a 20X loupe. If I'm seeing things correctly, I found two thumb sized brownish color rock that look like they have some nice small sized gold.

I next went back to the hill I've been prospecting, and dug two locations. My left foot isn't allowing me to do more, as walking is a literal pain. Results at location #1 were two specks of gold about 50 mesh size, and location two had dozens of specks just barely visible with a 10X loupe. Next outing I'll work my way uphill to see if what I got is not some kind of dumb luck like I usually have. My luck is I find something, then pursue things without anything else showing.

But the day was to be fun, and it was, with a smidgen of gold found to boot.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Shimming it under the UHMW would work fine, but having the right water flow spreads everything out for easy classification as is. I've never used the slimes deck as of yet.

What I did on mine was set the riffles level. That made the water flow fairly even over them, and the table had a slight upslope. Seemed to work fairly well. I think the grooved tables may be more difficult to get dialed-in. I'm sure you guys will get yours running right.
Jim

 

[desertgolddigger]

It's raining today, and probably tomorrow. I finally got rid of one pile of paydirt through the sifter this morning before the rains started.

I'm sure most of you wouldn't bother with processing the dirt, but for me, every time I run 50 cups of this 80 minus mesh dirt, I end up with some gold. For quite some while I've been using mercury to slurp up this small gold, but I finally gave up that practice. Now, I'm just saving the mini sluice concentrates for when I can process it another way

I'll sure be happy when I finally finish the shaker table, and figure out how to tune it in for this tiny gold, If a shaker table is as good as some people claim, maybe I won't have to keep running my tailings over and over, finding significant gold I've missed. Who knows how much I've tossed thinking I got everything I could.

I ran a batch of 50 tablespoons of the mini sluice tailings yesterday, and got more gold than I usually get from a normal run.

The MMBMLLC guy claims people who sluice for their gold lose an average of 10 percent. I'm beginning to think mine might be nearer 25 percent.

Wish this weather would abate for a while, so I can get my large shaker table sealed and painted. Then I can at least, place it on the heavy base table so I can locate where I'll install the catch basins, and water spray bar(s) supports.

My tabletop is going to be set up like the MBMMLLC shaker table. It has the catch basins and spray bars supported non the table base. Maybe if Mother Nature cooperates, I can do a mockup of what I'll have.

Well, anyway, the plants are going to be very happy, even if it is putting a damper on my gold mining.

 

[russau]

Sure wish you didn't like so faraway CAUSE I'd come over and give you some free help in doing this !

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Caley, I've got all your stuff finished. I converted my old table to a flex plate setup, and using 24 gauge plates, it works really well with your driver. I put a u-Joint on the table connection, and that seems to help. I'll post some video of it running on my Youtube channel.
Jim

 

[desertgolddigger]

Sure wish you didn't like so faraway CAUSE I'd come over and give you some free help in doing this !

Really appreciate your kind thoughts. Hopefully I can muddle my way through all this with help from those here.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Caley, I've got all your stuff finished. I converted my old table to a flex plate setup, and using 24 gauge plates, it works really well with your driver. I put a u-Joint on the table connection, and that seems to help. I'll post some video of it running on my Youtube channel.
Jim

Wow!! You sure are fast at doing these things. Must be that lifetime of experience. I built my base table fast, as I started learning woodwork from a friend across the street when I was probably eight.

Glad your modifications to your table are working.

I got my DIN rails today, and tried very hard to do precise drilling to no avail. Both rails are not quite as smooth as they should be. Tomorrow I'll increase the diameter of the holes I drill a tad so there's more play to get the seating and alignment better.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

It is harder to drill holes for the stroke changes between 3/4" to 1" if the pulley or crank end of the shaft is not big enough.

Wow!! You sure are fast at doing these things. Must be that lifetime of experience. I built my base table fast, as I started learning woodwork from a friend across the street when I was probably eight.

Glad your modifications to your table are working.

I got my DIN rails today, and tried very hard to do precise drilling to no avail. Both rails are not quite as smooth as they should be. Tomorrow I'll increase the diameter of the holes I drill a tad so there's more play to get the seating and alignment better.

Yes, that alignment on the rails is important. How critical it is depends on how much "play" there is on each rail. I think you'll liked your adjustable mounts. The one for the rear, and the one for the cons end are both screw adjustable. The feed end front is simple slide, with a lock screw to keep it in place. I also drilled the mount bases so you can put a screw in them so they don't slide around on the bench. Here's a link to the video:
I didn't adjust the table to make the material move, as I was just testing the drive with the newly configured table supports. The first part is the 5/8" motion, and the second is with 1/4". I think the 1/4" might do very well with more speed, but you'll find out with some gold-bearing material on the deck.
Jim

 

[desertgolddigger]

Yes, that alignment on the rails is important. How critical it is depends on how much "play" there is on each rail. I think you'll liked your adjustable mounts. The one for the rear, and the one for the cons end are both screw adjustable. The feed end front is simple slide, with a lock screw to keep it in place. I also drilled the mount bases so you can put a screw in them so they don't slide around on the bench. Here's a link to the video:
I didn't adjust the table to make the material move, as I was just testing the drive with the newly configured table supports. The first part is the 5/8" motion, and the second is with 1/4". I think the 1/4" might do very well with more speed, but you'll find out with some gold-bearing material on the deck.
Jim

That really looks good, especially with the shorter stroke

 

[desertgolddigger]

Believe it or not, it only sprinkled last night, so I got out and finally finished clearing all the problems the plumbers caused.

I then went out to the claim for pea gravel to finish my landscaping efforts. Probably need two or three more loads.

But while at the claim, I spent half an hour using my 30X loupe to peruse the rocks in the old timer tailing pile. I got about two dozen possibilities that seem to have super small gold, and one that actually looked like it had a small streak of gold in it. All I can do is break the rock, and see if there's actually something in it, or I got fooled.

Back at the hacienda, I laid my last strip of weed block fabric, and dumped the ten 5 gallon buckets of pea gravel. All I can say is "Whew!!", as I wipe the perspiration from my brow. Time for an hour or two break, then back into the sluicing shelter to run another 50 cups of milled and sifted material. Hopefully I'll get another small spot of gold. Anyway, it all adds up eventually. "Patience Grasshopper, patience".

 

[desertgolddigger]

Finally able to devote whole days to my shaker table build. This morning I checked the base table level, and found it still level from the day installed. I put in the big bolts and screws to hold it in place.

I also sanded the shaker table assembly. I hope to install the water barrier sides today. Also need to mount the DIN rail/Linear Bearing Block Assembly to the bottom of the table.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Just discovered my tabletop is way too heavy. So I'm back to square one on construction.

Jim in Idaho sent me my table driver. It arrived today, but will have to wait for something I can make that weighs less than ten pounds.

I'm thinking that maybe I can make a mold out of super lightweight wood or plastic, and than use carbon fiber and epoxy resin (thin coat) to firm things up. More to come from the crazy gal in 29 Stumps.

 

[southfork]

Just discovered my tabletop is way too heavy. So I'm back to square one on construction.

Jim in Idaho sent me my table driver. It arrived today, but will have to wait for something I can make that weighs less than ten pounds.

I'm thinking that maybe I can make a mold out of super lightweight wood or plastic, and than use carbon fiber and epoxy resin (thin coat) to firm things up. More to come from the crazy gal in 29 Stumps.

What's the problem? The driver only moves the table back and forth not really carrying any weight just needs thrust. But ABS plastic sheeting might be another option easy to cut and glued available in many sizes and thickness. Easy to work with and a lot of options on types of plastic.

 

[desertgolddigger]

What's the problem? The driver only moves the table back and forth not really carrying any weight just needs thrust. But ABS plastic sheeting might be another option easy to cut and glued available in many sizes and thickness. Easy to work with and a lot of options on types of plastic.

I don't know the weight limit of Jim's driver. He said it was too heavy. The good thing is I built the weighty table, and it may eventually get some use when I can afford a larger motor, and determine the size pulley wheels and spacing I'm guessing Jim probably will guide me towards the right equipment matches. I sure appreciate all he's done to get me going. It's my turn to build a table that'll match his driver.

I just finished stripping 2x4's down to 3/4x1 1/4. These will be used for the support framework underneath the 1/8 thick plywood.

I'll be setting what I call the support ribs to also function to hold my DIN rail strip which holds the four liner bearings.

I weighed these block bearings with attachment screws, and everything came to two pounds.

I'm figuring I need to keep the total weight under ten pounds.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Here's what I've experience when sluicing for very fine gold.

I've taken everything that my big sluice trapped in the riffles, and then run those concentrates through my mini sluice.

Everything that gets expelled from the small sluice, I keep for later processing. That later processing is actually producing more gold than the first run.

My thoughts are that the larger gold is just bullying the small stuff right through the mini sluice.

I'm guessing this wouldn't happen if my concentrates were dried, and then classified to different mesh sizes. Example, 100-119, 120-149, and 150 and smaller.

I'm not even sure the even smaller gold might get bullied by 250 mesh.

Now, I am wondering if this phenomena will happen when a properly setup shaker table processes everything at the same time. Example 80 mesh and smaller. I sift my material to that consistency. The larger stuff gets put through my drywasher.

I certainly hope that the shaker table will eliminate the need for running concentrates multiple times. It would be nice to only have to do it twice. For now I am classifying my concentrates as noted in the fifth paragraph.

BTW, this gold is coming from the club claim old timer vertical shaft waste pile. I'm actually getting pretty good gold after processing things two to three times.

 

[russau]

with each cut of your cons you should have to modify your running parameter's . Either adjust your freq. / tilt of your table or just hold your lounge in your mouth correctly ,for capturing the fine gold OR which either works best for you !

 

[desertgolddigger]

with each cut of your cons you should have to modify your running parameter's . Either adjust your freq. / tilt of your table or just hold your lounge in your mouth correctly ,for capturing the fine gold OR which either works best for you !

Yup, Jim said I'd need to get things set up generally, then slowly tweak things to get best performance. I knew I would have a learning curve. As I experiment, and get things to work for a certain mesh range, I'll keep notes, so I can work it again when needed.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I got my third rendition of a shaker table top ( 2x3 feet) is about halfway complete. I used a sandwich to keep things light. Top ply is 3/16 thick with a layer of 3/4 x 1 1/4 ribs below that, and finally 1/8 ply to form the sandwich. it is quite rigid. And the weight so far is five pounds.

I've glued the riffles on, but still need to sand to proper shape. That'll be the hard part

With the linear block bearings on the DIN rail attached, weight should be around seven pounds.

Then I need to install the water barrier, and drip edging, probably adding another pound.

Then sealing the wood, and painting adding one more pound.

Hopefully it'll actually come in under nine pounds. I can build this any lighter. The only other alternative is to do a lost foam form, and cover it with carbon fiber cloth/epoxy, and that IU will have to learn how to do.

Maybe a picture once I get the riffles finished